Zimmerman, DMX in Celebrity Boxing Match on Trayvon Martin's Birthday: I'll Beat Him Down, Says Rapper
George Zimmerman and DMX are set to have a celebrity boxing match on March 1, which is what would have been Trayvon Martin's 19th birthday. Zimmerman was acquitted of the murder of Martin in June of 2013, and rapper DMX was chosen out of more than 15,000 other applicants to fight the former neighborhood watchman, with part of the monies going to charity.
George Zimmerman and DMX's celebrity boxing match is being promoted by Damon Feldman, but the terms have not completely been set. A rep for DMX says that the money has to be right before the 43-year-old rapper will definitely accept the contract.
"DMX agreed to 'beat Zimmerman's a—' IF and when he sees the terms of a contract, which hasn't happened yet," TMZ reported via the rapper's rep, Domenick Nati. "Once an agreement has been finalized, we're told DMX will officially be down for the bout."
Get Our Latest News for FREE
When the contract is signed though, DMX, whose real name is Earl Simmons, promised to give Zimmerman a beating he won't soon forget.
"I am going to beat the living [expletive] out of him … I am breaking every rule in boxing to make sure I [expletive] him right up," DMX said, adding that he would urinate on Zimmerman's face when he was done.
The rapper's big talk may be tougher to back up, though. Zimmerman, who is 30 compared to DMX's 43, had trained for a year as a boxer to get in shape before the infamous February 2012 shooting of Trayvon Martin.
Even though many in the African-American community felt the acquittal of Zimmerman was unfair, not all agree with the idea of the man gaining notoriety for boxing, even for charity.
"We must be careful not to glorify or in any way sidestep the implications of making someone whose only claim to fame was killing an unarmed young man named Trayvon Martin into a cultural celebrity or hero," Rev. Al Sharpton said in a keynote address to the National Action Network on Wednesday.
"He has the right to pursue whatever he wants in life, yet we also have the obligation to be discerning about who we lift and to what level," he warned.
Zimmerman has utilized his celebrity before, though. During the trial he managed to raise over $400,000 to pay defense attorneys, move out of his home in Sanford, Fla. and pay around-the-clock security teams for his then-wife, Shellie Zimmerman. He also sold one of his flag paintings on eBay for a little over $100,000 in December.
The exact location and time of the fight will be revealed next week, according to a press release by Feldman.
"The match will be one of the biggest Celebrity Boxing matches of all time," Feldman promised.
